


Thinking Back and Looking Ahead

by Jellybean96



Series: 25 Days of Skyeward [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: 25 Days of Skyeward, Christmas, F/M, Family, Max!Verse, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 15:10:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12914514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96
Summary: At Christmastime, as they get ready for the upcoming arrival of their baby, Grant and Skye get a little thinky





	Thinking Back and Looking Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Hey babes! Here's the fourth installment of 25 Days of Skyeward. This one takes place within the Max!Verse that my friend and I created together. You don't really need to read any of the other stories to enjoy this one, though some of them may give you a little background knowledge.
> 
> Enjoy!

Lounging back on the couch in the living room, Skye watches the fire crackle in front of her, a mug of hot cocoa cradled securely in her hands with a blanket draped around her shoulders. A quick, soft thump draws her attention down to her slightly protruding stomach, a small smile crawling across her lips at the sensation inside her belly.

She rubs one hand against the side of her bump. "How you doing in there, kiddo?" she whispers. "Daddy and I can't wait to meet you soon. And next year you'll get to experience your very first Christmas with us. It's going to be so much fun. I promise."

"Talking to the baby again?"

Skye looks up to see Grant approaching her with a small smile on his face, Max right at his side like he always is. "Hey. Yeah. I want them to know my voice when they get here." She leans forward and sets her nearly empty cup on the coffee table.

Grant sits down next to her and places a hand by hers, smiling when he feels the baby kick against his palm. "I love that," he says with a pleased smile.

"Me too. I can't wait for them to get here, Grant. Next year for Christmas everything's going to be so much better with a baby."

"But also a lot crazier," Grant tells her. "Do you think the others will want to come over next year since it'll be the baby's first Christmas?"

"We can probably try to see if they'll be able to come for a little while," she tells him. "They probably won't be able to stay too long, though, since Jemma will most likely want to spend the holiday with Fitz and she's not really either of our biggest fans right now. But on the flip side, I don't think we'd be able to keep Katie away from the house once the baby gets here no matter how hard we tried. Have you seen her around my stomach whenever we go to the diner?" She lets out a small laugh.

"It seems like she really wants a baby of her own," Grant remarks, threading his fingers through Max's fur.

"She needs to find a man first," Skye responds. "Unless she decides to adopt or go to a sperm bank. I'm not one to judge. And I'm all for adoption even though I was one of the unlucky ones that never found a home as a kid. But I'm just glad I was able to get a kid the old fashioned way." She smiles at him and leans up to press a kiss to his lips. "I love you," she says against his lips.

"I love you too." He pulls back and lets out a breath as he leans back into the couch, wrapping his arms around his wife's shoulders. "Anything in particular you want to do right now?" he asks her.

She shakes her head and burrows deeper into his arms. "No. I kind of just want to stay right here and watch the fire. It's really relaxing."

"That it is," Grant agrees. "Do you ever think sometimes…?" he trails off in his question, not really sure how to word it.

"Occasionally I do," Skye teases her husband.

Grant rolls his eyes. "I didn't finish."

"So finish."

"You know how you made me watch that one movie the other day? The one where the guy made that wish he had never been born and the angel came down to make it come true?"

Skye raises a brow. "You mean  _It's a Wonderful Life_?"

He nods. "Yeah, that one."

"Yeah, I remember. I had to force you to sit here and watch it with me."

"You know I don't like just sitting for hours and watching stuff on the TV. I get restless."

"What about when we have dinner?" she asks him. "We're pretty much always in here eating while watching something on the TV."

"That's different."

"How so?"

"It just is. Can I get back to what I was saying?"

Skye nods and adjusts her position so her feet are in his lap and she's leaning back against the arm of the couch. "You may continue."

"Thank you," he says, his hands automatically finding Skye's feet and starting to give them a massage. He takes a deep breath. "I was just remembering that movie, and it got me thinking about something."

"Which is?"

"What's one thing that you would wish for more than anything in this world?"

Skye tilts her head. "Wow. That's pretty good. Um, I don't know, that's kind of a tough question. When I was younger I would have said to have the perfect family, my parents included. That they would show up one day and take me away from Saint Agnes and whisk me off on amazing family adventures."

"And now?" Grant prods.

Skye breathes in deeply and rubs a hand absentmindedly across her stomach. "Now? Now I don't really need to wish for anything. I have a great job, great friends, live in a nice, small town, have an amazing husband, and an amazing baby on the way. What about you?"

"That I was never born."

Skye's breath hitches and her eyes go wide, her hand stilling on her stomach. "Grant?" she says softly.

"When I was a kid," he continues, "that's what I would have wished for, no hesitation. Even a few instances after the Fall, when I was in that really, really dark place, and even after the whole ordeal with Hive, I would have wished to never have been born if someone had come to me saying they could grant any wish."

"Well what about now?" Skye asks him cautiously.

Grant looks up at her. "Now I'm glad that my life isn't like a movie and that whatever wishes I may have made growing up never came true. Because for the first time in my life, I'm genuinely happy with how things are going for me."

Skye smiles at him. "So am I. I don't think I'd change a single thing about it."

"There's one thing I would change," Grant admits.

Skye brows furrow. "What's that?"

"My anxiety and panic attacks. I hate feeling like this all the time," he says with a frown.

"But it's gotten a lot better ever since we came here," she says to him, sitting up and moving closer to him, resting one hand on his cheek. "And I'm really proud of you for that. You've made so much progress in so many ways and this baby is extremely lucky to have you as a father."

"I'm extremely lucky to have the both of you," he tells her, his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her close. "I don't even want to think about what my life would have become if you hadn't saved me from SHIELD after everything that happened."

"We saved each other," she tells him. "And it's a very good thing we'll never have to find out what might have happened."

"Yes it is." He smiles at her and leans forward to press a kiss to her lips before bending down and pressing a lingering kiss to her stomach.

Skye smiles and runs her fingers through his hair, her heart fluttering at the sight of him talking to their unborn child.

"You're gonna be a pretty great dad, you know that?" she says once he's done taking to her stomach and sits up.

He looks at her. "You're going to be an even better mom. And this kid is going to have a pretty great childhood. Especially when Christmas rolls around again."

Skye nods. "Definitely. Next year Christmas is going to be so beyond epic. Just think about it, babe. Matching pajamas for the three of us, pictures of the baby on Santa's lap, new traditions to start, seeing the way our kids' eyes light up when they open their presents. It's going to be amazing. Better than any Christmas I've ever experienced."

"Or me."

Skye's brows furrow. "You guys didn't celebrate Christmas?"

"No, we did. But for my parents, it was never about us kids or the fun traditions. They always threw these really lavish parties for all their socialite friends and never really paid much attention to us. Gramsy did the best she could to help us try and enjoy the holiday, but sometimes she wasn't able to make it much better. I can't remember ever having a good memory of Christmas growing up. This is the first time that I'm actually happy at Christmastime. And you're a big part of that."

Skye smiles softly. "You're a big part for me too. Christmas at Saint Agnes was never really about the fun stuff, and I was never in a foster home long enough to be there for Christmas."

"What did you do at Saint Agnes for Christmas?" Grant asks her.

"The Nuns made it all about God and Jesus and all that stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that, if that's how people choose to celebrate the holiday. But having to go through the same stuff every Christmas for sixteen years really gets old after a while. Especially when you see a kid who got adopted and they're talking about all the fun stuff they did for Christmas."

"That's too bad," he says.

Skye shrugs. "It's in the past, not much I can do about it now. Except for using this baby as an excuse to go crazy next year and do all the things I never got to do at Christmas when I was a kid," she says with a smile. "You better prepare yourself now, babe, I'm not going to hold back at all."

Grant chuckles and leans forward to kiss her forehead. "Sounds like a plan."

**Author's Note:**

> So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
> 
> Full disclosure, I've never actually seen "It's A Wonderful Life".
> 
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


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